About the Speaker

James Astill is The Economist’s Washington correspondent. Previous to this, he was Political Editor and Bagehot columnist based in London from 2012. He joined The Economist as International Security Editor in 2004. He had previously filed dispatches from Afghanistan, Pakistan and many African countries, while also working for the Guardian. In 2007 he moved to Delhi to be the South Asia Correspondent, writing on all the countries of the Indian sub-continent. He has won several awards, including the Gerald Ford prize for his coverage of US security and the Grantham prize for a special report on the world’s forests. Mr Astill has also written special reports on India, on Pakistan and the Arctic. He returned to London in 2011 to take up the role of Energy and Environment Editor before his current appointment.